Some of the 47 members of the special House of Deputies Committee on Sexual Harassment and Exploitation appointed in February by the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, deputies’ president, gathered at microphone 3 in the House of Deputies July 13 to thank Jennings for the work she had given them to do. They also presented her with a sculpture of the Virgin Mary. Photo: Mary Frances Schjonberg/Episcopal News Service

[Episcopal News Service – Austin, Texas] The voices and stories of women played a significant role in the workings of the 79th General Convention, from a liturgy where bishops offered laments and confession for the church’s role in sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, to Resolution D087 that allows deputies to bring infant children on the floor of the House of Deputies to feed them.

Full ENS coverage of the 79th meeting of General Convention is available here.

On the night of July 4, before the convention officially opened, a Liturgy of Listening featured stories from women and men who were victims of sexual misconduct perpetrated by someone in the church. Bishop DeDe Duncan-Probe of the Diocese of Central New York, who planned the service, said it was designed to help set a framework for General Convention’s consideration of resolutions dealing with sexual misconduct, exploitation and gender disparity. As part of a response to that liturgy, the House of Bishops on July 8 adopted a covenant that commits them to seek changes in their dioceses to combat abuse, harassment and exploitation. The document, which applies only to bishops, is entitled “A Working Covenant for the Practice of Equity and Justice for All in The Episcopal Church.” Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves of the Diocese of El Camino Real said the covenant grew out of the Liturgy of Listening because it was clear that “there is no way we can do this and nothing more.” She said, “Sexual abuse, harassment and exploitation are part of the system. This is about acknowledging and accepting that.”

Special House of Deputies committee offered resolutions

In February, the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies, appointed a 47-member special committee to draft proposed legislation on sexual harassment and exploitation. This followed a letter to the Episcopal Church in January from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and Jennings, calling for the church to “examine its history and come to a fuller understanding of how it has handled or mishandled cases of sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse through the years.”

The special committee, sometimes dubbed the “MeToo Committee,” proposed more than two dozen resolutions on topics ranging from changes to the canons on clergy discipline to issues of clergy compensation and pension equity for lay employees. Other resolutions touching on issues of gendered language and clergy employment were proposed by deputies from outside the committee.

The convention adopted many of the proposals.

Changes to Title IV canons on clergy discipline:

D034 adds an extra three years to the existing 10-year statute of limitations for victims of clergy sexual misconduct.

D076 protects people who file charges against a member of the clergy from retaliation and allows confidential filings for those who fear retaliation.

Several resolutions dealt with changes to structures inside the church:

D016 creates a Task Force on Women, Truth and Reconciliation to help the church “engage in truth-telling, confession, and reconciliation regarding gender-based discrimination, harassment and violence against women and girls.”

D021 removes from the materials that clergy file with the Office of Transition Ministry any reference to gender or current compensation, since statistics show women in the church are paid less than men of comparable experience.

D022 creates a task force to track resolutions from this convention that relate to challenges of women in ministry and to report findings twice a year to the Executive Council.

D026 adds family status, including pregnancy or child care plans, to the list of things for which no one in the church can be denied rights, status or access to an equal place in the life, worship, governance or employment of the church.

D037 directs the Church Pension Group to expand its Clergy Compensation Report to include more specifics on items relating to gender.

D045 affirms that pension plans for clergy and lay employees need to be more equitable and calls on the Church Pension Group to study how to make that happen.

D046 continues reauthorizing the expansive-language rites in the Enriching Our Worship series and calls on the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music to create principles to use in developing additional expansive-language liturgical texts.

D067 encourages the use of inclusive and expansive language for God and humanity, offering examples of how to do that based on the stylebook of the Society of Biblical Literature.

Addressing the needs of women in society:

A178 calls for a halt to inhumane and unjust immigration policies that are harmful to migrant women, parents and children.

D017 calls for policies that reduce sexual harassment, assault and exploitation in the workplace.

D031 encourages clergy and congregations to educate themselves on resources to combat and deal with domestic violence.

The Rev. Laurie M. Brock, deputy from Lexington and member of the special committee, led some of the 47 committee members to Microphone 3 in the deputies’ hall on July 13 to present Jennings with a sculpture of the Virgin Mary.

Brock thanked Jennings for asking them in February to serve on the committee and “for recognizing that as Christians we have the responsibility to respond to the plight and exploitation of women and all who are victims of abuses of power in this culture.”

She noted that Jennings invited many first-time deputies and other young women across the church and giving them the opportunity “to have our voices heard.”

“Thank you for giving this house and the House of Bishops a way to engage in the holy work of reconciliation and of love. Thank you for helping us all magnify the Lord and filling those who were hungry for good things of equality, of justice, of safety and, most importantly, of love,” Brock said.

While the House of Bishops is overwhelming male, 53 percent of the deputies to this General Convention are women. That is just slightly lower than the Episcopal Church as a whole, which according to 2014 statistics, is 55 percent women.

– Melodie Woerman is director of communications for the Diocese of Kansas and is a member of the ENS General Convention reporting team.

[Episcopal News Service – Austin, Texas] The 79th General Convention House of Deputies called for a task force to assist the presiding bishop’s Office of Pastoral Development in its work to assist dioceses in the discernment, nomination, search, election and transition processes for bishops.

There was some discussion by deputies on Resolution A147 after Pauline Getz of San Diego, deputy chair of the legislative Committee for Churchwide Leadership, introduced it, saying its intent was to “create a collaborative relationship with the Office of Pastoral Development.”

Full ENS coverage of the 79th meeting of General Convention is available here.

Deputy Benge Ambrogi of New Hampshire asked to clarify the “problem we are trying to solve with this resolution.” Getz responded, “Up until now, the process in episcopal elections has been based on what was done before. The purpose of the task force is to clarify the process, help the Office of Pastoral Development define a formal process and structure, and establish clearly what needs to be done in a search.”

Originally, the resolution called for a “Pilot Board for Episcopal Transitions.” The committee amended that language to “task force.” The other change was to alter the proposed length of time the task force would function from six years to an initial term of three years.

Additionally, the new task force will assist the Office of Pastoral Development in establishing guidelines and materials for the training and evaluation of transition consultants who work with dioceses throughout the election process. And, lastly, the members will help enhance “guidelines for reference, background, medical, and psychological screening of persons considered for nomination for episcopal elections and guidelines for the dissemination, evaluation, and record keeping of the screening information gathered.”

[Episcopal Diocese of Arizona] The Standing Committee of The Episcopal Diocese of Arizona has announced a slate of candidates who will stand for election as the VI Bishop of Arizona at Diocesan Convention on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018.

The Bishop Search/Nominating Committee, after careful and prayerful discernment, recommended these candidates to the Standing Committee, which voted to approve the slate.

“We believe these individuals possess the skills, qualities, experience and spiritual grounding necessary for the office of Bishop, and we are excited to commend them to the diocese,” said The Rev. Canon Daniel Tantimonaco, President of the Standing Committee.

The Standing Committee also announces the opening of the Petition Process on Friday, July 13, 2018, by which nominees may be added to the slate. The Petition Process closes at 5 p.m. (Arizona time) on Friday, July 20, 2018.

The introductions of the candidates, in the form of brief bios and answers to essay questions posed by the Search Committee, can be found on the diocesan website.

Parishioners across the diocese will have the opportunity to meet the candidates in person at “walkabouts” to be held in three locations across the diocese from Sept. 24-28, 2018, before the Oct. 20 election at Diocesan Convention.

This was a substitute resolution for A064 on revision of the Book of Occasional Services, originally submitted by SCLM. A064 was substituted with three more specific resolutions, all of which have been passed by convention:

A218 offers the revised sections of the BOS for use and review in the next triennium.

A283 adds three “Multicultural Liturgies for Occasional Services,” specifically Las Posadas, the Feast of the Virgen de Guadalupe (Dec. 12) and El Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) to the 2018 version of BOS.

Bishop Neil Alexander of Atlanta, chair of the bishops’ Committee on Prayer Book, Liturgy and Music, told the bishops on July 11 that there were no major substantive changes in the amended Resolution A218 to the liturgies, but editorial corrections and clarifications to liturgical directions in the rubrics had been made. The committee softened the language “so that someone reading it would not throw the book across the sacristy,” said Alexander, referring to directions that could have been interpreted as “snarky, bordering on offensive.”

The recommendation to the House of Bishops was to adopt the resolution as amended.

The Rev. Susan Anslow Williams, deputy from Michigan and chair of the deputies’ committee, said in her introduction of Resolution A218 to the House of Deputies on July 13 that the resolution contains texts ready for use from SCLM or the committee. “A crack team reviewed these texts, and any typos will be tagged and corrected.” She asked that these corrections not stand in the way of concurring with the HOB.

“SCLM had not had enough time or funding in the last triennium to complete the revision of the entire Book of Occasional Services,” Williams said. In the meantime, a separate resolution had passed, referring the sections not completed back to SCLM for work over the next triennium. The services offered in Resolution A218 will be available for use in a digital format, and the previous printed edition [2003] is still available for use.

An example of one of the revisions made by the committee can be found in paragraph 80 of the resolution. In the Service for the Anniversary of a Marriage, the revision changes the language to be inclusive: “Immediately after the Sermon (and the Creed if appointed), the Husband and Wife Couple present themselves before the presider, who stands facing the people.”

Most of the comments from the floor of the HOB were editorial corrections and bishops pointing out typos. For example, paragraph 118 of the resolution states, “We who are many in one body, share one break, one cup…” The bishops got a good laugh about that one in particular.

Flags also were raised about potential issues with the translation into Spanish. Bishop Lloyd Allen of Honduras said, “I’m sorry if I am going to be a little picky about this: In the copy I have, there is one copy translated into Spanish, but we have to be very careful because a word can mean one thing in one country and another (thing) in another.” He cited paragraph 33 in which “We welcome new people into a new parish” can be translated into Spanish as “We receive…,” which has a very different liturgical meaning.

Alexander responded that the Task Force on Translation provided input to the committee throughout the process of revising the text received from the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music. The task force advised that the committee would work to “perfect the English text the best we could” and the task force would translate it into Spanish with consideration for dialect and culture differences.

Another point was raised that some titles are not used universally. Not every cathedral has a “dean,” one bishop said – some are provosts and others might be interim deans – but the text refers to “dean” throughout the Seating of a Bishop in a Cathedral service. “These are optional texts in italics that can be freely used, so the committee expected that a cathedral with a provost or interim would make that change as needed,” Alexander responded.

Satisfied with the brief discussion, the bishops voted unanimously to adopt A218. The House of Deputies concurred on July 13 with no debate or comments, and the final version of the resolution is here.

In addition, Resolution A283, adding three multicultural liturgies to the Book of Occasional Services 2018, passed both houses during the July 13 morning legislative sessions. Deputy Ariana Gonzalez-Bonillas of Arizona stood in favor of the resolution, saying, “As one of the reviewers of this resolution, I am excited.” Gonzalez-Bonillas said she realizes that this is not the last time the church will review multicultural liturgies, but that she loves new beginnings.

The Rev. Carlos de la Torre, deputy from Connecticut, was also excited about what he said were the new beginnings that these liturgies bring. However, he cautioned that as the church “thinks about multicultural liturgies, there is such a big raft of different celebrations; this is the reality of Latinx culture and identity. As we move forward, we have to look at the Pan-Latino culture.”

When the resolution reached the House of Bishops for concurrence, about an hour after passing the House of Deputies, it was passed with no debate.

[Episcopal News Service – Austin, Texas] The 79thGeneral Convention took steps during its triennium meeting to provide support for clergy and lay leadership development in small congregations.

The convention approved Resolution A022 that directs the creation of a Theological Education Networking Team (TENT) to “collect, assemble, evaluate and publicize” the resources in the Episcopal Church “for the training of commissions on ministry and discernment committees.” The focus would be on the “education, training and formation of leaders who serve in small congregations with a special emphasis on alternative theological education pathways.”

TENT would also work with others in “collecting, disseminating and encouraging the use of resources and best practices for identifying, educating and forming clergy and lay leaders of small congregations.”

The resolution grew out of the Task Force on Clergy Leadership in Small Congregations, which was formed three years ago at the 78thGeneral Convention to “develop a plan for quality formation for clergy in small congregations that is affordable, theologically reflective and innovative.”

In a related move, the convention also approved Resolution A027, which authorizes a task force to “develop and implement a plan to provide need-based central scholarship funding to individuals” pursuing a theological education to serve as priests or deacons in small congregations.

The House of Bishops votes on one of the four Israel-Palestine resolutions it took up July 13, the last day of the 79th General Convention in Austin, Texas.

[Episcopal News Service – Austin, Texas] The 79th General Convention wrapped up its consideration of resolutions relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on July 13, with mixed results due largely to the House of Bishops unwillingness to take many of the bolder steps urged by the House of Deputies.

Of the 15 resolutions submitted on Israel-Palestine going into General Convention, only six passed both houses, though the successful resolutions still touch on a range of issues, including the plight of Palestinian children, the status of Jerusalem, the disproportionate use of lethal force on both sides and ways the Episcopal Church can press for peace through its investments.

Bishops and deputies, even those arguing for a tougher stance against the conditions of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories, took pains to affirm Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself, citing longstanding church policy toward the region. And while the bishops rejected the most controversial resolution, D019, saying it amounted to a dangerous “divestment” from Israel, General Convention’s deliberations over the past week have highlighted what many see as an escalating humanitarian crisis in the region.

“We need to really stand with Palestinians at this point,” Virginia Bishop Associate Robert Ihloff said in the morning session on the final day of General Convention. “It is not an even playing field.”

The Rev. Brian Grieves, deputy from the Diocese of Hawaii, speaks in favor of the resolution he proposed about ending the church’s complicity in the Israeli occupation. “Palestinian lives matter.” The Rev. Hillary Raining, deputy from Pennsylvania, speaks against Resolution D019 during the special order of business on Israel-Palestine in the House of Deputies on July 9. Photo: David Paulsen/Episcopal News Service

D019 sought to end what proponents say is the church’s financial complicity in the Israeli occupation through its investments in companies that profit from human rights abuses there. That resolution was taken up as a special order of business July 9 through an expedited process recommended by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies. That process also established the House of Deputies as the house of initial action for all Israel-Palestine resolutions.

Resolution D019 would have asked Executive Council, based on 70 years of church policy toward the Middle East conflict, to research and develop a plan by 2019 for a “human rights investment screen” for church investments in the region. The deputies voted 74 percent in favor, but the bishops defeated the resolution July 11, with 62 percent voting no.

After that vote, Sarah Lawton, deputy from the Diocese of California and chair of the Social Justice and International Policy Committee, said she was disappointed by the bishops’ decision to reject D019 but still saw opportunities for General Convention to raise its voice on the conflict through the other resolutions.

“Given how things are getting so much worse and dire, both the [Israeli] settlements and the human rights issues, I think it would be useful to understand how things are shifting and also the role of the U.S. government,” Lawton told Episcopal News Service on July 11. “I wish the bishops would have more time to reflect on how that situation is changing there.”

The bishops on July 13 joined the deputies in speaking out on some of those issues, even passing Resolution B016, which echoes D019 in its use of the phrase “human rights investment screen.” Bishop Dan Edwards of Nevada spoke in favor of B016 before the vote, saying it balances use of targeted divestment when appropriate with the use of shareholder activism when that might produce greater results.

“There is a time to disinvest, and there is a time to do shareholder activism,” Edwards said. “This resolution provides for both of those. To do one without the other is to limp badly.”

The voice vote on that resolution was close enough that Curry requested a show of hands to confirm it had passed.

“Israel is not an apartheid state,” said retired Bishop Ed Little of Diocese of Northern Indiana, a consistent voice against the Israeli-Palestinian resolutions.

Use of that word alone may have been enough to defeat D039, though some of the bishops agreed that an unjust system of segregation and discrimination exists in Israel. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Anglican leader who was a pivotal figure in the fight to end apartheid in South Africa, also spoke in favor of taking a tougher stance toward Israel in a statement he released before General Convention with former House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson and Patti Browning, widow of former Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning.

“I speak from a place of deep and profound respect for Archbishop Tutu,” Los Angeles Bishop John Taylor began his remarks on D039, but he disagreed that the “powerful word” chosen by the resolution was appropriate – at least not yet.

“Episcopalians are famous for taking words seriously. I would support this resolution without the word “apartheid,’” he said. “I fear that we may need the word back in another more appropriate context.”

Maryland Bishop Eugene Sutton rose not only to speak against D039 but also to question why General Convention had spent so much time on Israel-Palestine. He said he supported and voted for some of the measures but asked, “Why the fixation on Israel?”

“I’m disturbed by the number of resolutions brought forward about this conflict, as if we here can suggest that we actually know what the problems are,” he said. “There’s a sense of piling on here in these resolutions.”

The apartheid resolution was defeated easily, as was D038, on civil rights in Israel, after a concern was raised about some of the later resolution’s supporting material.

General Convention has voted in support of Middle East peace for decades, though Israel-Palestine has become one of the thorniest topics at recent General Conventions, particularly the question of divestment.

Tarek Abuata of the pro-Palestinian Friends of Sabeel North America testifies July 6 at a hearing on General Convention resolutions related to Israel and Palestine. Photo: David Paulsen/Episcopal News Service

The expedited process at this year’s General Convention was intended to ensure full, open and productive discussion of the issues, and that openness was on display July 6 at the hearing on the resolutions. Nearly 50 people testified, most of them in favor of passage.

After D019’s defeat, Lawton suggested there remained a disparity between the deputies and bishops in time spent deliberating on that and other resolutions. Some bishops expressed their own reservations about the process, saying they would have welcomed more substantive discussions before voting on what all agreed were complex issues.

Bishop Suffragan Jeff Fisher of Texas, who is on the board of Episcopal Peace Fellowship, offered that organization’s participation if the bishops wished to pursue such conversations formally. The topic is expected to be on the agenda when the House of Bishops meets next, in March.

General Convention Pigeon has been on the move in the House of Deputies — on foot and on the wing — throughout the 79th General Convention. Photo: David Paulsen/Episcopal News Service

[Episcopal News Service – Austin, Texas] The bird has been the word for 10 days here and, as the 79th General Convention prepares to fly the coop, its human avatars can now be revealed, ending countless days of speculation.

The Rev. David Sibley, Long Island deputy and rector of Christ Church in Manhasset, New York, right, hatched the General Convention Pigeon with the Rev. David Simmons, alternate deputy of Milwaukee and rector of St. Matthias Episcopal Church, Waukesha, Wisconsin. Photo: Mary Frances Schjonberg/Episcopal News Service

The Rev. David Sibley, deputy from Long Island, revealed the bird’s creation story to Episcopal News Service during an exclusive, secret and embargoed late-night interview outside the Austin Convention Center following the rare night legislative sessions July 11. Sibley, the rector of Christ Church in Manhasset, New York, announced that he and the Rev. David Simmons, alternate deputy of Milwaukee and rector of St. Matthias Episcopal Church, Waukesha, Wisconsin, hatched the General Convention Pigeon.

@gc79pigeon gained more than 800 followers in the first few days after the account’s creation on July 4.

The bird’s birthnest was in what Sibley referred to as the “alternates’ pen,” the area to the side of the actual floor of the House of Deputies where alternate deputies roost, waiting for the chair of their deputations to get to them in the pecking order and have them fly into the legislative action. This account would confirm the pigeon’s earlier claim to ENS that it was a “nested Episcopalian,” apparently similar to the human designation of “Cradle Episcopalian.”

On July 4, as house leaders were explaining how to use the deputies’ loaner iPads to access the Virtual Binder, a pigeon swooped low over the alternate’s coop. Great bird brains instantly thought alike as Sibley and Simmons texted each, concluding that “this thing needs a Twitter account.” Thus, @gc79pigeon was hatched.

“The idea that coalesced very quickly after that was, OK, let’s be funny. Let’s not pick on anyone. Let’s not advocate for any particular issue,” Sibley said. “Let’s just try to make jokes about the things that pigeons do and, at times, the absurdity of the process and the current happenings in the house.”

Rumor has it that @gc79pigeon has introduced a resolution to use the Syriac translation of Leviticus, which mistakenly called not for the sacrifice of "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons" as a sin offering, but rather of "a pair of turtledoves or two young PRIESTS". #gc79

@gc79pigeon I feel a sense of comfort to see you flying about today for the conversation about Prayer Book Revision. Yesterday you reminded us about the importance of listening-may we remember that today. #GC79

The occasional flaring of differences of opinions between bishops and deputies was also off limits, Sibley said.

The over-perching goal was “just to keep it light for everyone at convention because it can be really stressful,” he added.

“This is something that pretty much everyone has found amusing at convention,” Sibley said. “This was a good way to continue trying to keep people laughing when you’re in the middle of a floor debate.”

In an earlier interview with ENS during July 7 and 8 (the bird is busy) via Twitter direct message, @gc79pigeon said it hoped it could be “part of the movement of the spirit that brings something to keep people relaxed, laughing, and in good spirits when things get tense.”

Thus, @gc79pigeon opined at opportune times about donuts (or lack thereof), crumbs on the floors or whether it could get a pension.

I’m out of order – as usual. Just tried to get myself a pension, y’all.

The most surprising thing about @gc79pigeon’s flight path through General Convention, Sibley said, was that its Twitter account earned more than 800 followers in about three or four days. In addition, he and Simmons are pleased that “for the most part everyone has received it really well.”

“We haven’t seen a lot of folks who are upset or who take convention so deathly seriously that this is a betrayal of the decorum of convention.”

Sibley said it has been fun to see that some of the bird’s followers aren’t even in Austin.

I posted this earlier on my Instagram and really, it's a "I wish I could be at #GC79 for real" moment. But as I've been following the into as best as I can… the highlight of Gen-Con 18 is @gc79pigeon! After all, this Episco'bird IS the word! pic.twitter.com/k8mGTQIFSg

Over the course of convention, @gc79pigeon began to influence more and more of the deputies’ work, winging its way into floor proceedings, prompting various “communications from the chair” and even being scape-birded for certain errors.

Full ENS coverage of the 79th meeting of General Convention is available here.

On July 12, Deputy Barbara Miles of Washington, chair of Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance, presented Resolution A295 on the 2019-2021 budget and announced the correction of a revenue number in the text. “I have neither explanation or excuse,” she said the error. “But there is a rumor about pigeons.”

The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, House of Deputies president, reported at the start of the July 12 morning legislative session that the Rev. Mary Janda, deputy from Utah, informed her that Deputy Pidge and Deputy CooCoo Mydove “have enjoyed convention and plan to join their cousins in Baltimore about 2021.” The Charm City is the site of the next and 80th meeting of General Convention.

“The chair regrets to inform the deputy from Utah that, because the secretary did not receive a certification from the diocesan bishop or the secretary of the diocesan convention, that these two deputies are in fact pigeons, not deputies,” Jennings explained.

A kit of pigeons surrounds the Rev. Matthew Cowden, a Northern Indiana deputy, July 12 as he reads their statement to the House of Deputies. Photo: screenshot of House of Deputies livestream

Near the start of the July 12 afternoon session, Jennings invited the Rev. Matthew Cowden, a Northern Indiana deputy, and “his cohorts” to microphone 4 to “please entertain the house.”

Cowden, who claimed a “specialty in ornithological languages,” said he had been blessed to be able to translate a statement from Deputies Peck, Peep and Poop of Birdlandia (three clergy persons wearing bird masks who surrounded Cowden and periodically pecked at his head). “We are not influential birds; not one of us comes from a cardinal parish,” they said in their “point of pigeonal privilege.”

They said they were disappointed that all of their motions have been ruled out of order, acknowledging that they were conducting themselves on a wing and a prayer, suggesting they might even be called “birds of pray.” Cowden wrapped up the statement by quoting the birds as saying they did “not wish to be robbin’ this house of any more time.”

At the beginning of the House of Deputies’ morning legislative session on convention’s last day, July 13, the house’s Committee 24 on Privilege and Courtesy presented Resolution A301 “Gratitude for Special Guest” to, in part, give “thanks and shows its appreciation for the General Convention Pigeons. We give thanks for their representation of the Holy Spirit when necessary, for providing vital entertainment when needed, and for being gentle guides when ‘crumbs are left under thy table’ or on the floor.”

The resolution, which was approved, was the second item on the deputies’ legislative calendar. It followed Resolution A289 which expressed appreciation for Jennings, who received a standing ovation after that resolution passed. She warned deputies that they should not clap more for the pigeon than her. The resulting clamor was strong but somewhat muted. She also received a stuffed pigeon toy from the Diocese of Vermont.

Soon, it was onto Baltimore.

A little bird told me today is #gc79 last day. Please leave your donuts, crumbs, and assorted food items with an appropriate volunteer so that I may feast sumptuously in the days ahead.

The Rev. Sam Candler, deputy from Atlanta and chair of the legislative committee which considered all of the convention’s marriage resolutions, urged the House of Deputies July 13 to accept the bishops’ technical amendment to Resolution B012 and not make any changes. They agreed. Photo: Mary Frances Schjonberg/Episcopal News Service

[Episcopal News Service – Austin, Texas] Deputies dotted the last i and crossed the last t on July 13 with a historic resolution giving all Episcopalians the ability to be married by their priests in their home churches.

Resolution B012 had gone from the House of Deputies to the bishops and back to deputies on its road to being approved. Deputies overwhelmingly approved a heavily amended version of the resolution on July 9 and the House of Bishops added a technical amendment two days later that does not change B012’s goal of giving full access to two trial-use marriage rites for same-sex and opposite-sex couples approved by the 2015 meeting of General Convention (via Resolution A054).

The vote was:

* Clergy: 99 yes, 3 no, 4 divided
* Lay: 101 yes, 5 no, 1 divided

A Lexington deputy holds up the deputation’s paper ballot documenting its vote. During votes by orders, deputies vote on paper ballots and then deputations calculate the results and cast their vote electronically. Photo: Mary Frances Schjonberg/Episcopal News Service

Fifty-six votes in each order were required for passage. Divided votes are recorded when the clergy or lay members of a deputation split their votes between yes and no. General Convention resolutions must be adopted by both houses with the same text, and that is what deputies did early in the morning session of the last day of the 79th meeting of General Convention.

Scattered applause started to be heard among the deputies, but the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the house, cautioned that the body’s rules forbid such celebrations.

The resolution provides for:

Giving rectors or clergy in charge of a congregation the ability to provide access to the trial-use of the marriage rites for same-sex and opposite-sex couples. Resolution A054-2015 and the original version of B012 said that clergy could only use the rites under the direction of their bishop.

Requiring that, if a bishop “holds a theological position that does not embrace marriage for same-sex couples,” he or she may invite another bishop, if necessary, to provide “pastoral support” to any couple desiring to use the rites, as well as to the clergy member and congregation involved. In any case, an outside bishop must be asked to take requests for remarriage if either member of the couple is divorced to fulfill a canonical requirement that applies to opposite-sex couples.

Continuing trial use of the rites until the completion of the next comprehensive revision of the Book of Common Prayer.

The resolution also eliminated the original B012’s call for a Task Force on Communion across Difference. Such a group was created via a separate resolution, A227.

“We have already engaged in a grace-filled debate – an honorable and healthy debate, discussion and struggle,” the Rev. Sam Candler, deputy from Atlanta and chair of the legislative committee which considered all of the convention’s marriage resolutions, told the House of Deputies in urging passage without further tinkering. “We were reminded of the significant compromise that was made by various committed constituencies and holy saints of this church.”

No one spoke against the resolution during the House of Deputies’ short debate.

A House of Deputies page collects the written version of the Diocese of Southern Virginia’s vote by orders on Resolution B012. Photo: Mary Frances Schjonberg/Episcopal News Service

The Rev. Scot McComas, Fort Worth deputy, told his colleagues that if they passed B012 they would be acting as pastors to all the people of the Episcopal Church. Yet, he noted, “for 40 years our LGBT brothers and sisters have been at the back of the bus and, every so often, they are invited to move forward one row at a time.”

The Rev. Susan Russell, Los Angeles deputy and longtime leader in the effort for full inclusion of LGBTQ people in the life of the church, described the “long and winding road” that the Episcopal Church had traveled to get to this point. She said she supported B012 “recognizing that this is a hard-won compromise but one which I believe will lead us forward into that work as the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement.”

She reminded the house that its debate was being livestreamed and that Episcopalians in the diocese of Tennessee, Dallas and Florida (three of the places in which the bishops have not allowed the rites to be used) “where the faithful in the pews are waiting for us to let our ‘yes’ be yes – to say, ‘we do’ to marriage for all.”

East Carolina Deputy Joan Geiszler-Ludlum, who chaired General Convention’s Task Force on the Study of Marriage, implored deputies to complete convention’s actions on marriage. “We are fond of saying around the Episcopal Church that all are welcome, and all means all, y’all.”

Long Island Bishop Larry Provenzano offered B012 in response to proposed Resolution A085 from the task force, which was proposed in part to give a way for Episcopalians to use the rites in eight of the church’s 101 domestic dioceses in which the diocesan bishop refuses to authorize use of the trial-use marriage rites.

“I think this is a really important moment for the church,” Provenzano said in an interview with Episcopal News Service just after the deputies’ decision. “We do this without there having to be one side wins and one side loses. Very much like the theme of the whole convention, there’s a great movement for the church to really be the church in this time.”

Vermont Bishop Tom Ely, who has long been involved in crafting resolutions to move the church closer to full sacramental inclusion of LGBTW, said Episcopalians also need to know that the rites described in B012 are available to everyone in the church, not just same-sex ones. The resolution calls for studying how the rites are used across the church.

“So, let’s see if we like the actual liturgies,” he said. “Do these liturgies convey the spirt of what we want? Do they pray well? Do they work for all couples? Are these worthy of inclusion, at some point, in the Book of Common Prayer?”

Chicago Bishop Jeff Lee called B012 “an elegant solution for moving forward in a way that respects the role of bishops as the chief liturgical officers in their diocese” similar to that achieved earlier in the contentious issue of prayer book revision. Lee chaired the bishops’ part of the cognate legislative committee that reviewed the marriage resolutions.

The compromise was “built on the generosity of people who would rather have seen it go further in one direction or another,” he said. “And, that’s a remarkable thing about this convention, I think: that willingness on the part of people who cherish and really invested themselves in having ‘all this’ or ‘all that’ being willing to let go of the things they cherish for the sake of moving forward together.”

Resolution A054-2015 said that clergy could only use the rites under the direction of their bishop. This convention’s A085 would have required bishops to make provision for all couples asking to be married to have “reasonable and convenient access” to the two trial-use marriage rites. However, it also would have added the two trial-use marriage rites to the Book of Common Prayer and amend the prayer book’s other marriage rites, prefaces and sections of the Catechism to make language gender neutral. That change was a sticking point for many.

The original version of B012 would have required bishops who would not authorize the rites to allow congregations to receive Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight (DEPO) from another bishop who would provide access to the liturgies. It removed the prayer book element.

Deputies agreed to a version of B012 that took away the DEPO option and placed the decision-making power for using the rites with rectors or other clergy in charge of congregations. The bishops’ amendment comes in the seventh resolve of the resolution and adds the words “provided that nothing in this resolve narrows the authority of the rector or priest-in-charge (Canon III.9.6(a)).”

[Anglican Communion News Service] The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has said that bombs were thrown at officers as they policed a sixth successive night of violence in the Bogside area of Londonderry the night of July 12. Despite the Irish peace process, a number of annual events continue to cause tension. This week’s rioting was sparked by a July 12 march in the city, which commemorated the 1688 victory by Protestant King William of Orange over Catholic King James II. Earlier this week, bishops from the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches made a joint visit to the area to meet people affected by the petrol bombs and to appeal to calm.

[Anglican Communion News Service] Only 30 copies of the 1616 edition of the King James Bible are thought to exist – and one of them has recently surfaced in the cupboard of a 1960s church in Manawatū, in the lower North Island of New Zealand. It was discovered during a search for Palmerston North’s oldest Bibles for a display by neighboring church St Johns, for New Zealand’s Bible Sunday this weekend. The assistant priest at St. Peter’s, Amy Houben, believes the Bible may have been passed to the Church in 1912, but there are no records of the gift other than an inscription on its cover.

[Anglican Communion News Service] A group of 40 young Christians from the united Church of Pakistan, the Presbyterian Church of Pakistan, and the Roman Catholic Church have met to discuss the country’s forthcoming general elections. The event, on the role of young people in nation building in Pakistan, was organized by the National Council of Churches in Pakistan and the Christian Conference of Asia with the Centre for Social Justice. Organizers say it was designed to build awareness among young Christians and encourage them “to exercise their democratic rights to choose the future leaders of the country.”

The three resolutions, D057, D058 and D059, speak to issues surrounding leadership impairment due to alcohol and substance misuse and behavioral addictions.

The resolutions will take effect Jan. 1, 2019, in the new budget year.

D057 calls for the Training on Alcohol and Substance Misuse, and “directs the Executive Council to take the necessary steps to develop a mandatory training program with respect to alcohol and substance misuse and other forms of addiction (to be renewed at designated intervals) for all persons in the process of formation for ordination and for all priests and deacons currently licensed.”

A Rapid Response Team for Crisis Intervention is called for in D058, “recommends that the Presiding Bishop, drawing on the research of the Commission on Leadership and Impairment, establish a team of advisers or consultants to serve as a resource on alcoholism and substance misuse and other forms of addiction to provide a rapid response to issues of questionable impairment, to provide clergy or other concerned individuals with confidential advice, and to assist with monitoring and recovery.”

And in D059, Executive Council and the Pastoral Development Committee of the House of Bishops evaluate their policies and practices surrounding alcohol and substance use so that changes can be made that “may contribute to a healthy environment with regard to alcohol and substance misuse and other forms of addiction” in the context of meetings and gatherings. This resolution also “recommends that CREDO https://www.cpg.org/active-clergy/learning/credo/develop a program component to help participants explore their relationship to alcohol and substance misuse and other forms of addiction.”

All three resolutions were passed by the House of Deputies as part of the July 8 consent calendar. There was no debate in that house. Resolution D059 passed the House of Bishops on July 9, and Resolutions D057 and D058 were approved on the House of Bishop’s July 10 consent calendar.

“We do not come in hatred, we do not come in bigotry, we do not come to put anybody down, we come to lift everybody up. We come in love,” Presiding Bishop Michael Curry told a crowd of more than 1,000 gathered in prayer at the T. Don Hutto Detention Center in Taylor, Texas. Photo: Frank Logue

[Episcopal News Service – Austin, Texas] If there was one issue that defied any expectation of controversy at the 79th General Convention, it was immigration.

Bishops and delegates arrived in Austin last week on the heels of a national uproar over the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy toward immigration, particularly the decision to separate children from parents in detention. And despite the administration’s reversal on family separations, immigration policies continued to be a hot-button issue, including in the border state hosting the Episcopal Church’s triennial gathering.

But if the country remains divided over what to do about immigration, the thousands of Episcopalians gathered here presented a unified front in support of families who have been separated, of those facing deportation and of immigrants in general – through prayer, testimony, action and the unobstructed passage of legislation.

One of the defining moments of this General Convention was the prayer vigil held July 8 outside the Hutto Detention Center, an immigrant detention facility a little more than a half hour outside of Austin. A massive gathering of more than a thousand Episcopalians prayed and sang in support of immigrant parents and children who had been separated.

“We do not come in hatred, we do not come in bigotry, we do not come to put anybody down, we come to lift everybody up,” Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said in his sermon at the prayer vigil. “We come in love. We come in love because we follow Jesus, and Jesus taught us love.”

That spirit carried through to the church’s legislative process. About 25 people testified July 7 at a hearing on all resolutions related to immigration, and the Trump administration’s policies loomed large.

The Rev. Nancy Frausto, who was a featured speaker at the TEConversations joint session on racial reconciliation, testified at the hearing to her fear of deportation after President Donald Trump ended a policy of protection for “dreamers” like her who were brought to the United States illegally when they were children.

“The 800,000 Dreamers need to have the Episcopal Church stand behind them, and not just them but all immigrants,” Frausto said, speaking in favor of Resolution C033, which puts the church on record as respecting the dignity of immigrants and outlines how public policy should reflect that belief.

The Social Justice and Unites States Policy Committee, with the input received at the open hearing, combined some of the resolutions into three that encompassed many of the issues discussed. In addition to C033, the committee recommended A178, which takes a forceful stand against family separations and treatment of immigrant parents and children, and C009, entitled “Becoming a Sanctuary Church.”

The latter resolution encourages Episcopalians and congregations to reach out to and support immigrants facing deportation, including by providing physical sanctuary if they choose, but “this resolution does not call on them to do so,” committee member Daniel Valdez of the Diocese of Los Angeles said on the House of Deputies floor during debate on the resolution July 12.

“Sanctuary has a powerful theological grounding,” Valdez said while emphasizing the resolution’s intent, to encourage Episcopalians to make connections with undocumented immigrants, such as through legal assistance, advocacy or pastoral care.

The House of Bishops had passed the three resolutions without objection and without discussion in voice votes July 11, and the three were taken up together in the afternoon session July 12 in the House of Deputies.

Diana Marcela Abuchar Sierra, a member of the Official Youth Presence from the Diocese of Colombia, speaks in favor of immigration resolutions July 12 in the House of Deputies. Photo: David Paulsen/Episcopal News Service

Diana Marcela Abuchar Sierra, a member of the Official Youth Presence from the Diocese of Colombia, spoke out against the Trump administration’s immigrant detention policies during floor discussion of A178.

“I refuse to see how people who just want to better themselves are treated so inhumanely and cruelly,” Abuchar said in Spanish through an interpreter. “Please, as the Episcopal Church we must defend their rights and their dignity. As the Episcopal Church, we must raise their voices and be heard.”

Wendy Cañas, a deputy from the Diocese of New York, offered a similar sentiment in supporting C033.

“We are speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves,” she said. “We are also telling the the government … that the Episcopal Church will keep them morally accountable for sustaining and supporting the families in our country.”

As in the House of Bishops, no one spoke against any of the three resolutions in the House of Deputies, and the deputies were essentially unanimous in favor. All three voice votes passed without any audible “no” in the hall.

[Episcopal News Service – Austin, Texas] House of Deputies passed five more resolutions July 12 related to the Episcopal Church’s response to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but those resolutions faced a mixed reaction in the House of Bishops a day after the bishops soundly rejected an earlier resolution regarding the church’s investments in Israel.

The deputies took up six such resolutions in the morning legislative session, passing all but one. The bishops followed in the afternoon by joining the deputies in approving Resolution D027, which condemns use of lethal force by Israel against unarmed Palestinians – and by Palestinian forces against Israeli civilians.

Full ENS coverage of the 79th meeting of General Convention is available here.

Another resolution approved by the deputies, B016, would model Episcopal Church’s policy toward investments in the region after a “human rights investment screen” previously adopted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

The vote by the bishops on B016 was delayed as they sought a copy of the ELCA measure, for reference. The bishops ended their July 12 session without returning to the resolution but could take it up again July 13 on the final day of the 79th General Convention.

B016, though it doesn’t contain specific language directing the church to pursue divestment from Israel, echoes Resolution D019, which would have set a 2019 deadline for Executive Council to research and develop a plan for ending any financial complicity in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. The House of Deputies approved D019 on July 10, with 74 percent voting in favor, but bishops defeated it a day later by a 62 percent margin.

The rest of the resolutions, though somewhat less controversial, still inspired passionate comment on both sides of the issue. C038 highlights abuses in Israeli treatment of Palestinian children in detention. D038 objects to Israeli laws that deprive Palestinians of civil rights. And D039 calls for an end to what the resolution calls a system of apartheid between Israelis and Palestinians.

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, left, and Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem Suheil Dawani walk March 26 through the barren area between an Israel checkpoint and Gaza City. They were going to visit the Anglican Al Ahli Arab Hospital. Their journey took place five days before violence broke out along the fence that separates Israel and the Gaza Strip. Photo: Sharon Jones

D039 “was one that took me quite a bit of prayer and deliberation … because apartheid is not a small word,” said Deputy Adam Lees of the Diocese of Alaska. He said he decided to support the resolution after thinking about the access he and his family now have to pilgrimage sites in the Holy Land that are forbidden to Palestinian Christians.

He also spoke of a region in desperate need of groups that can act with moral authority.

“The moral authority is going to come from the people of Israel, from the people of Palestine and, God willing, from the people of the Episcopal Church,” Lees said.

William Murchison, a deputy from the Diocese of Dallas has spoken several times on resolutions related to Israel Palestine, including twice on July 11, providing arguably the most forceful arguments against measures that he described as anti-Israel.

“The mood of the house is to beat up on Israel, to beat it to a pulp, and to make excuses for its adversaries and its sworn enemies,” Murchison said in speaking against D027.

Earlier he opposed D039 using similar language. “The Israelis are under threat from Hamas and Hezbollah, but do we hear anything from the Episcopal Church calling attention to or alarm to (those threats)?” he said.

The Rev. Winnie Varghese responded to Murchison by name while speaking in support of C038.

“It is always delightful to hear Deputy Murchison remind us that the Episcopal Church stands strongly on the side of the state of Israel and has since the founding of the state of Israel in the 1940s. That is a fact. We do. Our nation does as well, to the tune $38 billion in foreign aid awarded in 2016,” she said.

But Varghese went on to raise the issue of proportion, citing statistics from 2018 so far – 158 Palestinians killed in the conflict, including 26 children, while six Israelis were killed in the same period.

“Israel is the state, and like the United States of America when we talk about our war on terror … there are restrictions to what can be done humanely in that effort,” she said.

The only related resolution that the deputies rejected was D028, which would have spoken out against U.S. laws prohibiting corporations from boycotting Israel in protest of its occupation of the Palestinian territories. The deputies’ vote against the resolution came after Russell Randle, deputy from Diocese of Virginia, raised concerns about the precedent that would be set by the church going on record in support of corporations’ free speech rights.

A Palestinian woman makes her way June 1 through an Israeli checkpoint to attend Friday prayer of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque, in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. Photo: Reuters

As the debate on the resolutions moved to the House of Bishops, the sentiment was just as strong, though this time the voices of bishops in favor of action outnumbered those opposed. The bishops openly debated only one of the resolutions, D027, entitled “Pursuing Justice in Gaza,” though direct references to Gaza were dropped by the International Policy Committee.

“Having been to Gaza, I would call it a prison where 2 million people reside,” Bishop Greg Rickel of the Diocese of Olympia said. “I think it’s time for this church to stand up for those people.”

Support for the resolution was far from unanimous in the House of Bishops, but it passed in a voice vote.

In addition to D027, the bishops previously approved B021, supporting the resumption of humanitarian aid to Palestinians; B003, regarding the status of Jerusalem as shared Holy City; and D018, reflecting on the deterioration of negations toward a two-state solution.

That leaves four resolutions for the bishops to consider July 13. As for the rest of the more than a dozen Israel-Palestinian resolutions initially submitted to General Convention, legislative committees either recommended no action or incorporated elements of the resolutions into the resolutions that made it to floor votes.

General Convention has voted in support of Middle East peace for decades. This year, nearly 50 people testified at a committee hearing on Middle East resolutions held July 6 in the JW Marriott, part of an expedited process recommended by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, House of Deputies president.

Curry’s and Jennings’ recommendations, including the designation of the House of Deputies as the house of initial action, were intended to ensure full, open and productive discussions after complaints about the process for considering Israel-Palestine resolutions at General Convention three years ago.

[Episcopal News Service – Austin, Texas] Both houses of General Convention on July 12 adopted a resolution that allows all congregations in the Episcopal Church to use optional, expansive-language versions of three Rite II Eucharistic prayers in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer.

Resolution D078 provides alternative language for Prayer A, Prayer B and Prayer D. The changes are available for trial use until the completion of the next comprehensive revision of the Book of Common Prayer.

Full ENS coverage of the 79th meeting of General Convention is available here.

Prayer book revision has been the subject of great debate during this convention, which eventually agreed to the creation of new liturgical texts to respond to the needs of Episcopalians across the church while continuing to use the 1979 book. No specific date was set to begin such a comprehensive revision.

Deputies overwhelmingly adopted the resolution on a vote by orders, which is required to authorize liturgies for trial use. The results were:

Clergy: 78 yes, 19 no, 12 dividedLay: 89 yes, 14 no, 6 divided

Fifty-five votes in each order were required for passage. Divided votes are recorded when the clergy or lay members of a deputation split their votes between yes and no.

After passage the resolution quickly was sent to the House of Bishops, which passed it on a voice vote after little debate.

The Rev. Laurie Brock, deputy from Lexington, proposed D078. Official endorsers were the Rev. Beth Scriven of Missouri and the Rev. Scott Gunn of Southern Ohio.

Brock told the deputies that the larger plan for liturgical and prayer book revision doesn’t change the fact that every Sunday worshippers hear the words in the current prayer book that are “mostly masculine.” She said that offering the revised versions of existing Eucharistic prayers is “an immediate way to take the longing we have heard in this convention back to our pews, so God can be celebrated in all genders.”

In a more practical vein, she said the resolution “recognizes the reality that many of us are doing this on Sundays and would like to not get hauled up on Title IV for doing it,” referring to the canons for clergy discipline.

Here are some examples of the optional language included in the trial-use rites:

Priests may begin any of the three rites by saying “Blessed be God: most holy, glorious and undivided Trinity.” The current Opening Acclamation of “Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit” is also an option. In either case, the people’s response is “And blessed be God’s reign, now and for ever. Amen.”

At the beginning of the Great Thanksgiving in all three rites, the priest may say “God be with you” instead of “The Lord be with you.”

The Sanctus can now be said using “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord” in addition to “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”

In Eucharistic Prayer A, celebrants now have the option of saying “ … you, in your mercy, sent Jesus Christ, your only and eternal Son, to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to you, the God and maker of all.” In the original version, that sentence ends with “…the God and Father of all.”

Eucharistic Prayer B contains an optional wording for the sentence “Unite us to your Son in his sacrifice, that we may be acceptable through him, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” The option reads “Unite us in the sacrifice of Christ, through whom we are made acceptable to you, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”

Eucharistic Prayer D offers the option of adding the word “matriarchs” after “patriarchs” in this sentence: “And grant that we may find our inheritance with [the Blessed Virgin Mary, with patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, (with ____) and all the saints who have found favor with you in ages past.”

The options offered in D078 are to be provided to the church at no cost via electronic distribution, the resolution says.

The resolution asks the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music, or SCLM, to consider revising Eucharistic Prayer C, sometimes called the Star Wars prayer for its reference to “the vast expanse of interstellar space, galaxies, suns, the planets in their courses, and this fragile earth, our island home.”

The SCLM is told to both monitor the use of the expansive-language rites and begin a dynamic-equivalence translation of the rites into Spanish, French and Haitian Creole languages.

D078 asks for $12,500 for the work involved. The 2019-2021 budget has already been passed so that the portion of the resolution becomes what is known as an unfunded mandate and is left to the Executive Council to determine a funding source.

– The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is the Episcopal News Service’s senior editor and reporter. Melodie Woerman is director of communications for the Diocese of Kansas and is a member of the ENS General Convention reporting team.

[Episcopal News Service – Austin, Texas] The House of Bishops on July 12 approved a resolution to develop and implement a “shareholder engagement plan” to guide dioceses, churches and individual Episcopalians investing in gun manufacturers and retailers to change company policies through shareholder advocacy.

Full ENS coverage of the 79th meeting of General Convention is available here.

Under the resolution, the 79th General Convention would direct the Executive Council Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility (CCSR) to “develop and implement a shareholder engagement plan” for dioceses, church organizations and individual Episcopalians investing in publicly traded stock of gun manufacturers and retailers. The plan would provide guidance for how to effect change in these companies through shareholder advocacy to reduce lethal and criminal uses of their products.

The Episcopal Church has long been an advocate for socially responsible investing in gun manufacturers. For example, the church’s Executive Council in late January authorized its Committee on Corporate and Social Responsibility to join an attempt to convince Dick’s Sporting Goods to abide by the Sandy Hook Principles developed to stem the tide of gun violence. A little more than a month later, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based retailer announced Feb. 28 that it would stop selling assault weapons at its 35 Field & Stream stores.

The company had removed them from all Dick’s stores after the Sandy Hook massacre. The company also said it would no longer sell firearms to anyone younger than 21, and it would no longer sell high-capacity magazines. And, Dick’s said, it has never and will never sell bump stocks that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire more rapidly.

The shareholder activism of the Episcopal Church and other religious institutional investors was not the sole cause of Dick’s decision, but those involved say it had some influence on a company that was considering a change.

In a second resolution related to ethical investing, the House of Bishops also approved Resolution D068 that asks the CCSR to consult with related groups engaged with human rights and the care of creation to develop and propose criteria to the Executive Council to use in assessing investments in companies found inconsistent with the church’s faith and mission or questionable under the church’s ethical teachings.

CCSR is also directed to evaluate the effectiveness of divestment through the creation of a No Buy List from these companies and procedures for the church to follow in making a decision to engage companies or to establish a No Buy list.

– Mike Patterson is a San Antonio-based freelance writer and correspondent for the Episcopal News Service. He is a member of ENS General Convention reporting team and can be reached at rmp231@gmail.com.

[Episcopal News Service – Austin, Texas] After rejecting all three amendments put to them, deputies on July 12 accepted the proposed 2019-2021 budget and sent it to the House of Bishops for their consideration.

The bishops acted minutes later, approving the budget in a voice vote without any debate.

Full ENS coverage of the 79th meeting of General Convention is available here.

The budget reflects the presiding bishop’s priorities of evangelism, racial reconciliation and justice, and creation care. The priorities have been referred to as the “three pillars” of the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement.

It also continues to be built on what Maine Bishop Steve Lane, vice chair of PB&F, told the joint session is “the foundation of our continuing ministries as a church and our commitments to others both within and beyond our church.” In addition, it includes the foundation of the church’s “ongoing commitment to conciliar governance, and the legal, financial and other services of the Church Center [the denominational offices in New York].”

Of the three proposed amendments from the floor, one called for shifting a hard-fought $650,000 for director’s and officer’s fees for the president of the House of Deputies into program for racial justice and reconciliation. The other two proposed adding money into the budget to support the work of The Episcopal Network for Stewardship, or TENS.

West Missouri Deputy Curtis Hamilton told his colleagues they ought to accept his amendment not to provide compensation for the president of the House of Deputies because the church should not be paying more people when PB&F had been faced with $15 million more in program requests than it had revenue to cover.

“A decision was made to prioritize an internal governance issue over other priorities such as racial justice and reconciliation in order to balance the budget,” Hamilton said.

Deputy Scott Haight of West Tennessee objected to Hamilton’s suggestion, saying that the house had tried for 40 years to gain some sort of compensation for its president. Part of that goal was to respond to “persons of color who have been historically, disproportionately been excluded from serving in this position.” He urged the deputies not to pit priorities against each other.

The Rev. Winnie Varghese, deputy from New York, agreed. “This amendment pits two yeses of this house against each other,” said Varghese, who left the dais where she serves as the house’s voting secretary to enter the debate.

The Rev. Nina Ranadive Pooley, deputy from Maine, said the push to earn compensation for the president of the House of Deputies was “a matter of racial reconciliation for this house” because offering compensation means that any member of the house can run for the post. “Any race, ethnicity, any gender, any socio-economic status,” she said.

East Carolina Deputy Tess Judge, former chair of Executive Council’s Finances for Mission committee that crafted a proposed draft budget for PB&F, urged defeat of the amendment.

“We also are very pleased that our bishops have come together and want to work with us on this and move this forward,” she said. I ask that this amendment be defeated and that we work for fairness so that others who want to serve in the role of president of the House of Deputies may be able to do so from an economic standpoint as well.”

Hamilton’s amendment failed on a loud voice vote with only scattered approval.

Neither of the TENS amendments (0116 or 126) to return $150,000 to the budget succeeded.

The 2013-2015 budget had given $385,264 to the organization, which is independent of the churchwide structure, calling it (on line 138 here) a partnership “to support a local network empowering churchwide stewardship ministry.” The 2016-2018 cut that amount to $150,000, noting (on line 138 here) that the funding originally had been entered into as a one-time-only grant partnership.

The Rev. Candice Frazer, an Alabama deputy who proposed the first amendment, said 65 dioceses in the Episcopal Church as well as dioceses elsewhere in the Anglican Communion belong to TENS and use its stewardship resources and training. “My amendment simply requests that we continue to uphold and value stewardship as a practice committed to us both biblically and traditionally,” she said.

Both of the amendments failed on voice votes.

The budget now becomes the shared purview of PB&F and the Executive Council. Between meetings of convention, the canons assign oversight of the budget to council while convention’s Joint Rules of Order assign very similar responsibilities to PB&F.

Executive Council crafts annual budgets out of the spending plan that General Convention passes. Typically, council adjusts each of the three annual budgets based on changing income and expenses. At least one PB&F member typically attends each of council’s nine meetings during the triennium.